The UK’s biggest Refugee Week event, Migration Matters Festival, is a nine-day celebration of all things arts and culture.
This year’s headliners include the Grammy-nominated husband and wife duo, Amadou & Mariam, who took to the stage at Glastonbury last year to perform their Afrobeat hits.
Other performers include the Swiss band, Sirens of Lesbos, with their genre-bending tracks, and prize-winning poet, Roger Robinson.
The Sheffield festival drew in crowds of around 13,400 people last year and is back for the ninth time. More than 50 events will take place over the festival period, which runs from 14 to 22 June across the city.
Amadou & Mariam. Credit: Migration Matters Festival.
Migration Matters’ Director, Sam Holland, said: “This year’s festival will include our best lineup yet. There is an increased focus on global music due to demand and after last year, where we achieved a new audience record with Kenyan band Sauti Sol.
“We’re also increasing our strand of exciting family events which introduce young people into the migration conversation with our second year of Mini MigMat. This is a programme curated by young people in the Youth Theatre of Sanctuary in partnership with SBC Theatre and The Montgomery Theatre.”
The festival’s aim is to highlight the positive impact of migration in the country’s first City of Sanctuary. Events will be celebrating the talents of refugees and asylum seekers in Sheffield.
Aside from the award-winning musical acts, the festival will also showcase a comedy night, interactive art exhibitions and installations, dance and drag performances, and Latin American film screenings.
Migration Matters Festival Director, Sam Holland. Credit: Migration Matters Festival.
“Whether you want to discover new stories about people of colour throughout history in South Yorkshire, or dance to African drum beats in the city streets, the festival will have something for you,” Sam added.
The festival is also welcoming two new guest curators, Otis Mensah and Tasnim Siddiqa Amin, to work alongside returning curator Howl Yuan.
Many of the events will be free to increase accessibility and allow as many people to attend as possible.
Tickets for the events, including the festival’s opening and closing parties, are available to buy here.
